Chapter 302: Returning in the Dark Night (3.5k)
The raindrops hit everyone, creating splashes of fragmented flowers. Although it was already close to December, it didn’t feel cold. Here, the black pickup truck was like a heavy hammer, striking the heart of their despair and reawakening the hope of life.
Hu Ling stared at the black pickup truck that appeared before her, her eyes wide with shock. She slightly raised her head and gazed at the car door as it creaked open.
Soon, a figure in a gray and white dress emerged from the car. Black crow feathers fluttered casually on her shoulders, and her delicate face wore a faint, indifferent smile.
Staring at the face that had once haunted her heart like a nightmare, an expression of immense shock flooded her mind in an instant. She suddenly cried out, “Su Jiu?! You’re still alive?!”
Hu Ling’s slightly dry shout echoed in the rainy night, causing many to freeze. Their gazes fell upon the young girl in the black dress, emanating a solemn aura.
“Su Jiu?! …Run, quickly! This person is the Ancient God Sect Leader.”
The first to snap out of their shock was Lin Yun of the White Water Society. His glasses slipped down slightly. He couldn’t help but have a deep impression of this newly joined female manager who had appeared like a fleeting flower.
Even though he knew Su Jiu was strong, they were now facing a Battle King Level expert, and moreover, the leader of the Ancient God Sect!
“Heh heh… Good. You dare to drive and hit an old man? I think you’re tired of living!” The old man in the black clerical robe also shot up from the smoke-filled wall, then said in a deep voice. During his roar, his gaze quickly fell upon the gray and white haired figure, and he suddenly looked surprised and uncertain.
“Senior Sister Hu Ling, haven’t we just met? Why did you forget me?” Shortly after the old man in the black clerical robe finished speaking, the girl with gray and white hair, her hair like green silk, waved her hand and a black ring appeared. A Dragon Girl mask materialized on her hand, and she said with a soft laugh.
“Mysterious Merchant?!”
Hearing the voice, everyone looked over sharply. Hu Ling, instead of feeling comforted, trembled wildly. She looked up at Su Jiu, who had a gentle smile on her face. She had seen the video, and in the video…
“Crow Feather Attire?! Who exactly are you? Our operation this time should not have attracted Dragon Country’s assassination forces!”
Before Hu Ling could finish her thoughts, a hoarse voice suddenly rang out from the sky, carrying a hint of unease, like a mouse encountering a cat, very flustered.
“Assassination forces? From Dragon Country, such familiar words. Wait, could it be…”
Barely supporting herself, Hu Ling slowly retreated with Lin Yun’s help. A hint of thought appeared in her eyes, as if she had suddenly thought of something. Her eyes held a trace of disbelief, and she was about to say something.
“There is an organization. They do not travel with white doves, but only return in the dark night… And only the elite among them wear the Crow Feather Attire.”
“This organization is as famous as the Dragon Hunters — the Night Watcher organization!”
“Su Jiu, she’s a Night Watcher!”
Before she could speak, a low male voice suddenly sounded from behind her. Slowly turning her head, she saw that Lin Yun’s eyes were also filled with shock.
Lin Yun’s explanation exploded in the crowd like a bomb. Everyone looked up in shock, gazing at Su Jiu, who faced the Battle King Level sect leader with poise.
“Su Jiu… Isn’t she the president of our 24th session?!”
They remembered the girl’s triumphant story of becoming the new chief like a god, and thought of how she had won endless wealth…
However, the title of Night Watcher seemed too distant to them, making it impossible for them to realize how strong she was now.
Looking at the stunned gazes behind her, Su Jiu gently caressed the long sword that had materialized on her hand at some point. Then, she slightly turned her head, conjured a wisp of crimson flame with two fingers, and said to Hu Ling, “Before, I thought you didn’t deserve to be the student union president, but now you seem to have some of the qualities of a president.”
“I can’t compare to you. Even if you were still the student union president, I still couldn’t compare. Who would have thought that an undergraduate student from the first year, after disappearing for only a few months, would have transformed into an elite of a top national organization.”
Meeting Su Jiu’s gaze, Hu Ling wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, coughed violently, and then stepped forward. A wry smile appeared on her cold face.
Su Jiu smiled indifferently, and a hint of emerald green color appeared on her fingertips. She then stepped forward and touched Hu Ling’s forehead, casually activating a healing spell, and said gently, “You all just watch from the side. I’ll handle this old man.”
Feeling the warmth emanating from her forehead, Hu Ling was slightly stunned. Her expression involuntarily relaxed. Looking at Su Jiu’s significantly different attire, she almost subconsciously said, “This is the Ancient God Sect Leader. Her strength has reached the Battle King Level, and she is exceptionally powerful. You must be careful.”
“Just a sect leader…” Slowly turning around, Su Jiu’s face showed a faint smile.
Hearing Su Jiu’s attitude of not taking the old man in the black clerical robe seriously at all, Hu Ling suddenly realized that Su Jiu was the mysterious merchant who could suppress that middle-stage Battle King with a mustache.
“Although you’re wearing the Crow Feather Attire, your aura doesn’t reach the Battle King Level. Could it be that you’re a junior cultivated by those old geezers?” In the sky, the old man’s expression kept changing. Finally, he looked at Su Jiu with a sinister gaze and sneered, “Heh heh, then don’t blame this old man for being ruthless. This is my first attempt to kill a Night Watcher elder. If I succeed, it might not be impossible to become a Black-clad Bishop.”
“To kill you, a late-stage Initial Stage Battle King, Elegy isn’t even needed.”
Su Jiu paid no attention to his mockery. She slightly raised her head, glanced at the old man, and then stepped on the ground. With a “bang,” an explosion sound occurred. Her black dress trailed after her like an afterimage as she approached the old man.
Seeing Su Jiu’s actions, the old man’s eyes grew colder. He could clearly sense from her aura that the girl charging at him was only at the War General Level, and moreover, she was a middle-stage War General who hadn’t summoned her Bloodline Phantom.
“Elegy? That skill of sacrificing and burning oneself? Heh heh, even if you use it, what can you do? With your middle-stage War General strength, using it can at most elevate you to the level of an ordinary High-Rank Battle General.”
Being underestimated by a middle-stage War General, the old man couldn’t help but sneer. His potent External Qi surged out of his body, and gray and white External Qi instantly spewed out. The surrounding rainwater hissed and emitted thick smoke upon contact.
His withered fingers in his sleeves joined and then opened, transforming into claw shapes. The sharp blades on his fingertips appeared extremely sharp under the dim yellow streetlights.
“Little girl, don’t think that by wearing this Crow Feather Attire you can be compared to a Black-clad Bishop. This old man will teach you what it means to respect strength.”
With that said, accompanied by the surge of gray and white energy, a domain quietly formed with the old man at the center. The gray and white domain was filled with the qi of death carrying corrosive energy. There was even a phantom image of a giant bone fish leaping about; this was his true Bloodline form.
Within the gray and white domain of deathly qi, he also transformed into a black shadow and charged forward, tearing through the very air. The sharp whistling sound caused many who had just relaxed to tense up again.
“Heh heh, you’re not worthy.”
Hearing the old man’s words, a fighter’s spirit emerged in Su Jiu’s eyes. This was the first time she had faced a Battle King without using Elegy. She then raised her sword before her. A sharp claw, radiating a chilling aura, swept towards her with a sharp gust of wind, hitting the sword body with a “clang!”
“Is this what the Battle King Level is like?”
Effortlessly blocking the old man’s swift attack, Su Jiu’s fighting spirit grew more intense. The aura on her body made the opponent’s domain afraid to approach even an inch. Using the sliding force of the opponent’s finger blades, sparks sizzled and shot out. She quickly bent down and slashed towards his waist.
Seeing Su Jiu easily block this attack, the old man was clearly stunned for a moment. He was obviously surprised that Su Jiu, a War General, could easily withstand his full-power attack as a Battle King.
However, this momentary lapse lasted only an instant. His eyes suddenly widened in alarm, and he hurriedly retreated to dodge the crimson flame slash aimed at his waist. He formed his hands into claws, trying to grip the crimson flame sword like he had dealt with Hu Ling.
“Full Moon!”
Looking calmly at the old man’s finger blades sparking at the tip of her sword, Su Jiu whispered. The momentum of the sword suddenly increased. A phantom image of a crimson flame sun, the size of a tire, appeared behind the sword body, fully escalating the momentum, and the old man’s finger blades trembled slightly.
“Bang!”
The next moment, a muffled explosion sounded. The old man was thrown against the wall like a rag. Su Jiu stood proudly in the sky, the crimson flames on her long sword still flickering. The raindrops hadn’t even approached before they turned into small wisps of steam and evaporated.
A few breaths later, the old man crawled out from the pile of shattered walls filled with smoke and dust. He stumbled out, his clothes burned beyond recognition. At this moment, his scar-faced expression was filled with shock and anger as he pointed at Su Jiu, “You were hiding your strength?! Why did my Death Spirit Domain not suppress a War General?”
Damn it, a middle-stage War General, without using any secret techniques, was actually at a disadvantage when fighting swordplay with him, an Initial Stage Battle King?
It wasn’t that the old man was wrong to think so. Even without Elegy, Su Jiu’s bloodline was top-tier. Besides her bloodline, she also had the sword techniques passed down from an ancient sword god family. Moreover, the domineering and extraordinary flames on her body had a restraining effect on these sinister attributes.
The old man was not a strong and robust Battle King, and he also had the buff of the Crow Feather Attire suppressing him. With the balance shifted like this, it was normal for him not to be an opponent.
Seeing Su Jiu and the old man fighting, with Su Jiu dominating, the students of Magical Capital University became excited, and low cheers erupted.
Although the reputation of the Night Watchers was great, there was a certain gap in strength between the two sides on the surface, making it difficult not to worry.
“After only a few months, I can barely see her tail.” Looking at this exchange, Hu Ling shook her head with a wry smile and sighed.
The first-year students behind Hu Ling had already lost their basic concept of Su Jiu’s strength. They could only feel her power but couldn’t explain how powerful she was.
“It’s over. Go to hell and atone.”
Looking at the completely disabled old sect leader, Su Jiu smiled faintly, then flicked her long sword and slashed again. A crimson flame slash resembling a flying bird flew towards him.
“Puchi!”
The sudden crimson flame slash directly changed the expression of the old man in the black clerical robe. He wanted to deploy his defenses, but it was too late. His body flew backward, eventually splitting in half, lying straight in the rain.
“No martial ethics…”
He mumbled a sentence, and his pupils slowly lost their focus. He lay on the ground, letting the crimson flames slowly burn him to ashes.
After finishing everything, Su Jiu slowly descended and lightly tapped the water puddle. She came to Hu Ling’s side, her gaze swept over the civilians, and she asked, “What’s the situation inside now? Are these the only civilians in this old district?”
